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Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed off on the state budget Thursday without suggesting any amendments or line item vetoes, the first time that's happened in Virginia since 1998. McAuliffe, a Democrat in his second year as governor, was at the signing joined by Republican budget writers and GOP House Majority Leader Kirk Cox. McAuliffe plans to roll out a number of legislative vetoes Friday — shooting down a number of Republican ideas — but for Thursday afternoon, all was at peace in Virginia's divided government. "We have laid a really strong foundation with this budget," McAuliffe said. House and Senate budget committee chairmen have worked closely with the...

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Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed off on the state budget Thursday without suggesting any amendments or line item vetoes, the first time that's happened in Virginia since 1998.
McAuliffe, a Democrat in his second year as governor, was at the signing joined...

In last year's Medicaid expansion fight, there was lots of rumbling on both sides of the issue to the effect of "Just what 'til voters get a chance to weigh in on what you did."
Now, very quietly over in Portsmouth, it looks as if that's...

Monday marks five years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, was signed into law.
The legislation has provided low-cost medical coverage to almost 385,000 Virginians, and 11.7...

The state's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services estimates that there are 150,000 individuals in Virginia living with a developmental disability. Of those, 10,192 with intellectual disabilities (ID) receive a Medicaid waiver for...

RICHMOND — They started with an early promise on ethics reform, then waited to the last day to actually pass a bill.
But in between, this legislature churned through issues large and small. At the end House leaders, Senate leaders and the governor all...

RICHMOND — They canned his name for a health-care initiative, changed the name of his economic development fund, whacked his effort to expand pre-school — all in all, the governor had a tough time in the General Assembly this year.
But it wasn't as...

Could the General Assembly's revision of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's pilot program to cover some mental health and medical care for 20,000 low income Virginians with serious mental illness leave them in the same jam they feared landing in if they agreed to...

The fierce argument over Medicaid expansion set the tone in last year's fractious General Assembly -- so the change this year is dramatic.
In the House of Delegates today, for instance, Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, was almost circumspect when he...

An effort to expand help to young people who age out of the state's foster care system got the axe in the budget deal negotiated by a handful of influential members of the House of Delegates and state Senate.
Virginia has the worst record of any state...

Virginia's state government spending came in under budget last year, but not by enough to offset the money squeeze caused by state forecasters failing to recognize that a one-time bump in tax collections wasn't going to be repeated.And a just-released,...

Almost 385,000 Virginians enrolled in private health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, healthcare.gov, by the Feb. 15 deadline for coverage in 2015. That surpasses the goal of enrolling an additional 160,000 over last year, set by...

Since enrollment opened in mid-January, dozens of Peninsula residents have applied for the Governor's Access Program, or GAP, to receive primary care and mental health services through a federal waiver program open to Virginia residents aged between 21...

State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, sent a summary letter to his constituents on the first week of the legislative session. Here's an excerpt:
"By refusing to expand Medicaid or adopt the alternative approach offered last year, Marketplace Virginia, we...

Hundreds of Peninsula residents with a severe mental illness stand to benefit from the Governor's Access Plan, announced Tuesday. Part of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's "A Healthy Virginia Plan," the federal waiver program will provide medical and...

Gov. Terry McAuliffe talked up recent economic successes Wednesday and laid out the basics of a lengthy, and optimistic, legislative package he plans to push this year in the Virginia General Assembly.
As he often does, McAuliffe pitched his vision of...

State Sen. Walter Stosch, one of a few Republicans who backed a quasi-privatized version of Medicaid expansion last year, said Tuesday that he won't seek re-election.
The 78-year-old has been in the General Assembly some 32 years, including a 9-year...

That was some roller coaster in politics, 2014 was.
A sure-bet Senate election turned squeaker. A dance on the edge of a fiscal cliff over the state budget. A special session on the Medicaid expansion standoff that ended up … a standoff.
Then there...

Primary care doctors who accept Medicaid are expecting a hit in 2015 as the two-year increase in payment rates that was included in the Affordable Care Act expires.
"I doubt it will be a catastrophic event … but it does sort of cause...

Editor's note: "DP Buzz is an interactive feature of the Daily Press Press Opinion Page. We email weekly questions on issues and topics affecting Peninsula-area citizens. Each week, subscribers can choose whether to weigh in or not with a short...